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Five golden rules for job applications in Sweden

Oliver Gee
Oliver Gee - [email protected]
Five golden rules for job applications in Sweden
The dreaded cover letter. Photo: Shutterstock "

The dreaded job application - but with a twist. For this month's JobTalk, we chat with a marketing manager at CareerBuilder about how to write the perfect application for a job in Sweden.

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I'm looking for a job - but I don't even know how to get started on my application, you may be wondering.
 
Well, wonder no longer. We chatted with Johan Hasslert, marketing manager at CareerBuilder, for the inside word on getting your application into the right pile. He gave us the five golden rules. 
 
Five tips before sending your application: 
 
1. Keep it in Svenska
If the ad doesn't specifically say to apply in English, always do it in Swedish, Hasslert cautioned. Call in a favour from a friend or loved one before even thinking about hitting send. And be sure to get the language perfect - spelling and grammar mistakes never do you any favours. Recruiters searching a database tend to use Swedish terms anyway, so resumes in English will be unlikely to appear in results.
 
2. Keep the personal details to yourself - no one cares
It's alright to show a bit of personality here and there, Hasslert said, but don't get too deep into the private details. The recruiter doesn't care where you lived the first five years of your life, for example. But don't be too formal either - think 'lagom'. Rock climbing? Sports?
 
 
3. Focus on the relevant skills that match the job
Give some examples of your work that are meaningful for the specific job. For example, don't just say you're "driven"; explain a time in a previous job where you were driven and share the outcome. Also, if you're applying to be a banker, for example, you don't need to tell them that your skills include fruit stacking from the time you worked at a supermarket in high school.
 
4. Do your research on the company
This is a big one. Read, read, and read some more. Know exactly what the company does and how they do it. Then, match your qualities with the demands in their business or branch. Show them you are interested in the company, not just the job and salary. This also goes for the interview stage, there's nothing worse than an interviewee not knowing anything about the company they're applying for - and some interviewers may even find it offensive.  
 
5. Be honest
It may sound so obvious, but you'd be amazed how many people exaggerate their experiences. It's not worth it. This is the kind of thing that will come back to bite you, and why would you want that?
 
Click here for your free tickets to Careerdays, the largest career fair in the Nordic Region, held at Stockholm's Ericsson Globe Arena on August 28th and 29th.
 
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